>> the love pentagon. that's what's making news in america this f . you're watching the station that works for you, now, good morning maryland. >> it's most wonderful time of the year this morning we are live in downtown baltimore with a look at how the city is celebrating the holidays. >> the former head of the cia will be on capitol hill today but general david petraeus won't talk about his affair. we will tell you why lawmakers want to hear from him. >> time to fine out which team is tops this is the boys in purple head up to the black and yellow attack in pittsburgh. that's coming up on sunday. but today is friday, november 16th. and good morning i am charley crowson. >> happy birthday. >> that's it. that's it. >> yes.

4:30 that's one time and that's it. >> now everybody has to do it. come to me. >> go ahead. >> happy birthday charley. >> thank you. >> you are welcome. >> maryland's most powerful radar is picking up on showers and mainly in southern maryland. light showers in tow and we can see it around calvert county and other than that, things are nice and dry this morning as you step out the door. don't forget the big coat. once again we are dealing with temperatures that are on the cold side. 37 degrees in clarksville and frederick at 35 degrees more of the same in bel air. wind are calm right now and we will be seeing some sunshine as we go throughout the day. so be prepared for that as well. as we check out what's going on in terms of the day, we will be seeing some sunshine. temperatures will come in right around 51 degrees for a high so be prepared for that as well. let's go back over to megan and charley. >> thanks so much. a water main break in baltimore county to tell you b no longer an issue. crews fixed the crack overnight. it happened at millford mill

and scots level road. at one point 260 homes were without water and that has beenreported and restored so not an issue now but it was yesterday and overnight. another water main break more issues on the roads let's go over to lauren to see how the commute could be affected by this and other water main breaks. >> reporter: we are dealing with repairs to two massive water main breaks between 21st and north avenue. stick with calvert and 83. madson street is opened in mount vernon many take that and make a left on gillford but as the more rush picks up you will want to expect congestion. looking live at 695, here in parkvale, no problems to report from harford road up to 83. and as we check in and look at the abc2 timesaver traffic drive times, the rest of the beltway no problems to report on the west side. normal conditions 11 minutes on the outer loop from 795 down to 95 and everything is up to speed through the fort mchenry

tunnel. 8 minutes to travel northbound on 95 from the beltway all the way to the toll plaza. megan and charley over to you. you looking for holiday fun for your family this weekend. >> downtown baltimore will be transformed into a winter wonderland. linda so is live at the aquarium with what's going on. we can hear the music in the background, linda. >> reporter: i know. plenty of lights to get you into the holiday spirit. this is a sneak peek. the people came out and turned the lights on for us this morning. it's spectacular and covers the light show that covers the seafood restaurant barnes and noble and hard work cafe and it's enough to get you into the holiday spirit and that's what's going on starting tonight. things connected off last night but there will be plenty to do this weekend and throughout the holiday season. this is all part of a water front life lots of festivities and events planned down here at the harbor for the family. starting today, the polar

express opens at national aquarium, it's a 20-minute show and you can watch images leap off the screen. tomorrow from 3 to 5:30 in the evening, things come to life at west shore park and there will be wire walk and acrobatics and juggling and a holiday parade at 6:15 along the promenade and santa will arrive at harbor place at 6:30. every year kids look forward to that. night will end with this power plant holiday light show. that starts at 7 tomorrow night. and beginning next monday, you can get your picture taken withsanta at harbor place and various shops and restaurants put up a holiday themed window display. so all of this to enjoy again this light show spectacular and they have given us a sneak peek and it kicks off tomorrow. bring your family out to enjoy it. we will have much more coming up in the next half-hour. live in downtown baltimore, linda so, abc2 news. 4:34 it's not thanks giving

but santaa can -- santa is coming to town. your child can get free giveaways and a special photo with santa in his holiday home. your take home pay saturday stake when the president he meets with congressional leaders. they will discuss ways to avoid what they have been calling the fiscal cliff. aid series of tax increases and spending cuts to things like the defense budget and medicare that can take efct by the end of the year. the pre wants to keep tax cuts for the middle class and increase taxes on americans making more than 250,000 a year. republican leaders wants more spending cuts and no increases in taxes. one week age was handing in his resignation. >> today former cia director general david petraeus returns to capitol hill and appears before the house and sen isate commitees in three hours to talk about the attack on the u.s. consulate in libya. it killed the u.s. ambassador and three other americans. yesterday, lawmakers watched the video of the attack. you can meet ravens players today while helping out with a

good cause. ray rice will be at stuff a bus. the event is happened at the shop rite in at that mownium -- timonium. they are teaming with up mix 106.5 to replenish the food banks and anyone who donates canned good eye teams will have a chance to wayne pair of tickets to a private screening of the twilight saga breaking dawn part 2. >> welcome to purple friday and one of two purple fridays the ravens fan will relish. they head to pittsburgh for a battle with the steelers. ravens are down ray lewis and webb and the steelers lost big ben to a shoulder injury and just like last year the ravens hold a one-game edge in the afc north over pittsburgh. kick off from the burgh 8:20 sunday night. he is part of the team that brought baseball back to baltimore and is getting recognition for it. adam jones came in 6th place in

the mvp voting and that's the most since 2004 when tejada came in 5th. johnson came in 14th and weeder 21st but let's get back to football. because as you mentioned, the steelers and the ravens this weekend something we look forward to. lynette has the forecast check. >> what you got? >> i have good conditions for the game. especially when you play the steelers. get them ravens. let's get them. 43 is what i am going with as we go into kick off on sunday. a few clouds the wind out of the southeast at about 5 to 10 miles an hour. it's going to be a good game out there. let's talk about what's going on around the nation here as we see the big view and we see high pressure across the middle of the nation and high pressure is there because you are not seeing a lot of cloud cover. sliding closer to home you can see that we are dealing with showers trying to make their way in here but for the most part they will stay in southern maryland and fizzle out. we will see the clouds just

like yesterday. and we will get a little bit more sunshine in here than what we saw yesterday. yesterday, it was mostly cloudy and today mostly cloudy to partly cloudy skies across the area. so what do you need to have on this morning as you step out the door? you need a big coat and temperature in mount airy at 35. myersville at 36 this morning. and we have the upper 30s around catonsville and the low 40s in shadyside. easton coming in at 39 and centerville at 41. aberdeen at 37 degrees this morning. so, again, as you head out, don't forget the big coat and you can leave the umbrella at home. keep the coat around because temperatures will stay below average as we head through the rest of the week. let's go back to megan and charley. 4:38. they survived war to die at home. >> a parade honoring veterans ends in a tragic accident this morning. federal officials are getting involved. >> and taking learning outside the classroom. that's the idea behind a website created by a high school senior now a major company is recruiting maryland students to help create a

mobile app. >> you probably remember digging through the cracker jack boxes looking for a prize. now there's a new version of the popular snack that might not be kid friendly. >> reporter: well, everything is up to speed on 95 in downtown baltimore. i will let you know what traffic lockets like on -- locks like on 695 and -- looks like on 695 and 8 coming up on good morning maryland. -- 83 coming up on good morningmaryland.

back now to top stories on this friday morning. a former bowie state student is waking up a free woman. jurors found alexis simpson not guilty of killing her roommate. they spent hours deliberating last night before reaching the verdict. simpson was facing 7 charges stabbing dominic frazier in the shared suite last year. during the testimony, yesterday morning, she told the court the whole thing was in self- defense. you may have a famous

sister but john charles ferraro is making news on his own. mia ferraro's brother is charged with molesting two boys in his home. this is according to charging documents. victims say the abuse started when they were about 10. police started an investigation back in september when the two boys that are now teens came forward. authorities are look for other victims. your children are used to seeing the principal in the building but today the principal will be on the building the middleboro elementary spending 2 1/2 hours reading from the roof. classes will be able to pick what they want to hear from the series of books and science fiction autobiographys and journals. they have been take part in activities for the national young readers week a culmination of the event. as parents we hope our children are always learning even if they are not in the classroom. >> a senior from northern virginia helped to develop a website by changing the way teachers interact with students. now a group of kids from a

maryland high school are turn it into a mobile app. turn it into a mobile a -- turning it into a mobile app. >> reporter: he has found a way to take the fear out of raising your hand in the class skas in the hallway. >> amazing profound learning happens in the hallway. >> reporter: a social media site where you load the schedule and it connects you with students in your school and around the world. >> you can add an event to thursday november #th and say i have -- 8th and say i have a test and anyone else studying can see that. >> reporter: post the question and get a slew of answers from other students taking the subject. >> even change your setting. >> reporter: thomas jefferson high school senior created the site with a tj alum the project had so much promise that microsoft was interested and gotanother teen from spring brook high school in maryland to develop the mobile app. the all student project is really taking off. >> classes are loaded in.

you can either adthem on the website or in the app. >> every student has fear aboutasking the one question that seems so straightforward and you don't get it and don't want to be the one who doesn't get it. so, everyone has the fear and having an app like this that abol ishes the fear is well --abol ishes the fear is welcome ding abolishs the fear is welcoming. >> reporter: he listen to how it went. >> we walked in wanting x dollars and came out over 10 times as much we asked for. >> officials say that hallway is expected to become available sometime early next year. >> microsoft is making it part of the launch for window 8program coming out soon. make headlines this morning, a train collided with a float killing 4 and wounding veterans during a parade. this happened in midland texas. the float was part of the hunt

for hereos event to honor veterans. police say that the last flatbed truck in the parade was crossing the tracks when a train slammed into it. >> i heard a big car crash whatever and i came over here to see and i was -- there was a car accident. >> i heard the noise and it was a fluke and i said it sound like somebody got hit. >> one other person remains in critical condition this morning. the railroad operator says the crossing gate the lights they were working at the time of the crash and the train blew the horn. the federal officials this morning are heading to west texas to join investigators in working out to figure out what caused the accident. back to the story from 2010. bp will pay 4.5 billion dollars in a settlement to the government for the massive oil spill in the gulf of mexico. the deep water horizon explosion on the rig 50 miles off the coast of louisiana killed 11. about 200 million gallons of crude oil spilled into the water. british oil giant admitted it

was neglect. three employees will face criminal charges, two will be charged with manslaughter. most of the money bp pay also go to the gulf coast states that were affected by the spill. the gas rationing on long island will end tonight. since the rationing was put in place the lines had disappeared. we know the first few months with a newborn can mean a lot less sleep it's not very little. >> let's be honest. >> you are not going to sleep. now a family says a late nightcries of the baby saved them from a fie. 8 people in a homemade it out safely -- fire. 8 people in a home made it out safely. most of the possessions are now gone, the family is counting their blessings that everyone especially the newborn is safe. it may not be the forecast yet but the city wants to be ready when snow comes. look at this. today mayor stephanie rawlings-

blake is going to meet with the city snow team to discuss plans for the upcomingsnow season. that takes place at the haven street waste water yard so i know you will sneak in to find out the plans. >> it's good to hear about that. good preparation. >> yeah they have to prepare. >> exactly. you talked about the fact you're forecasting we may get a good snow. >> we are going to have more snow than last year for sure. let's talk about what's going on. no type of snow. we see rain to the south in southern maryland around calvert county you are getting in on the wet weather. it's going to try to creep in anne arundel county. might have a few showers there. but all this will be tapering off as we head through the morning. you can see the bulk of it off into the sea. and just a little bit trying to make its way in here. so maybe a few sprinkles this morning but all in all, we should be dry as we go into the afternoon and maybe seeing sunshine across the area. as high pressure will try to do its thing and get in as we go throughout the day, but we still are going to be on the chilly side as we go into the

afternoon. this morning, we are cold. make sure to have the coat as you head out and about. 35 degrees right now in perry hall. 36 in churchville and chestertown coming in at 39 degrees. we do have the wind variable right now. light but still with that we have a bit of a wind chill. so temperatures are a little colder than you are seeing. as we look at what's going on for your today, we are coming i degrees and that is still well below. we should be at 57 degrees now for this time of the year. and we will be under partly cloudy skies and that chill is still going to be in the air. by tomorrow, 3 -- by tonight 33 degrees a few clouds cold temperatures and still remaining across the area. and tomorrow we are going to do it all over again. what you see is what you get tomorrow. 52 a bit chilly and partly cloudy skies and this is what your seven-day forecast looks like for you as we break it down. once again we will start today and we have the sun. sun cloud mix and we will see little more sunshine than yesterday. and 51 degrees is going to be the high and look at the

temperatures staying cool. staying chilly. 52 degrees as we go into saturday and then we have game day against pittsburgh. cool there, temperatures around 53 and this is here at home. and as we head into monday, more of the same still a couple clouds and this is big week. we are talking about travel time on wednesday. biggest travel day of the year temperatures bumping up a bit. now we will be seasonable as we go into thanksgiving. let's check of the traffic with lauren cook good morning. >> reporter: good morning. definitely some big days ahead. the ravens will beat the steelers and we have thanks giving and can't believe the holidays are almost here. if you are traveling on 83, no problems to report from hunt valley all the way down to the beltway. one you -- once you get on the jfx normal condition you want to be aware that falls road will be shut down to clipper mill road. they are cleaning up debris in the area. it won reopen until 3 p.m. -- won't reopen until 3 p.m. on sunday. stick with 83 as your alternate. as we check in and look live at

abc2 timesaver traffic drive times. the beltway is delay free. looking at just an 11-minute ride on the outer loop from 95 all the way up to 83. and no problems to report over on the west side 11 minutes as well. on outer loop from 795 down to 95. now over to you. tensions flare after a hamas leader was killed. >> there's rockets attacks this morning. is the possibility of war increasing between palatine and -- pals stine and israel. >> they are in the big business of coffee. the next market starbucks is looking to take over.

we are 8 minutes away from five. imagine hearing explosion outside your home and it's been a daily occurrence for people living in gaza this week. and today, they got a bit of a rest. and charley is at the live des to being explain why.

>> -- desk to explaining why. >> they are normal right now between israel and palestinians but it's on a temporary halt. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu called for the cease- fire while egypt's prime minister was in gaza. that lasted three hours and the cease-fire even less. before that visit, 85 missiles exploded in gaza city within a 45 minute span. the ace real -- israeli military says 274 rockets had been fired from gaza since operation began. an hour ago, israel sent in an air strike in gaza targeting the house of hamas' southern commander. this is the heaviest fighting there in four years and looks like it could get wore as the days pro-- worse as the days progress. troops and armored personnel carriers signifying it could turn no a ground war very soon. news time 4:53. five things to know as you head out this morning. they haul nearly 2,000 pounds of trash in baltimore each day

and today the mayor will say thank you. it's part of the annual garbagemen appreciation day event at the waste to energy facility in baltimore city. with the rising cost of food, unemployment and the state of the economy, many families right now are struggling to keep food on the table. this morning, the united way of central maryland will hand out3,000 thanksgiving meals to low income families. the meals will be given out at the franciscan center from 10 to 3 this afternoon. hostess workers will find out if they have jobs. the company warned if they didn't return by thursday evening they would have to liquidate it would result in 18,000 layoffs. if you haven't used your vacation days for the year, you may lose them. the average american has 12 days off of vacation to use but most only use about 10. however most of us blame scheduling conflicts and hope the days can be rolled over that's rarely the case. the happiest place on earth is going to get bigger. look at the